


Puzzle Pieces

by JanaRumpandRCJawnn (JanaRumpandRCJawwn)



Series: Modern Magic [12]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Character Study, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 06:56:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8739250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanaRumpandRCJawwn/pseuds/JanaRumpandRCJawnn
Summary: There was an old man in a house





	

_There was an old man in a house._

_That old man had once been young and in love. But he was not a hero, so he didn’t deserve a happy ending. He was a monster, and monsters should be killed._

He was sitting on a cell's floor, his back against the wall. The cuffs and muzzle were still tight around him. Nekomata knew he had fucked up, he shouldn’t have trusted Ikkei, shouldn’t have let his guard down just because that human seemed nice and decent. He shouldn’t have fallen in love. It had been so long since he had let himself be near anyone, specially someone who wasn’t a ghoul, and it should have stayed like that. 

There were noises outside, but he didn’t bother moving or opening his eyes. 

He knew what happened to ghouls caught stealing bodies - they never came back. They were imprisoned forever or simply killed right at the police station. Too rabid to function, it would say on the reports.

The door to his cell was opened, and he saw Ukai standing there. It hurt, but he wouldn’t give this betrayer the taste for his anger or desperation. The police officer walked closer, unafraid, his frown deep. 

“Want something from me, mister cop?” Nekomata’s voice broke the silence, and he crossed his legs while faking ease, still staring at the human. “Or did you expect me to be dead already?” 

There was silence and Ikkei seemed to get mad, aiming a kick at the wall before muttering angrily.

“Fuck, Nekomata.”

“That's what I wished we had done before you turned me in.”

Yasufumi was teasing, had braced himself for a punch or at least a hateful look, but instead there was just a groan of frustration and a blush. It was quite pathetic how Ikkei was incapable of hiding his emotions or his bad temper, the cops must be really stupid to let him do any interrogation. 

“How could you not tell me what you were doing?” Comes the question, anger fueling the words.

“You are only human, you would never approve or understand.”

His tone was maybe nastier than usual, but could he really be blamed? This had never been what he wanted. He just wanted his people to have food and not be treated like they were less deserving of walking the streets. He had never killed a human that didn't try to kill him first, which had happened indeed. He was expecting Ikkei to leave or even just shoot him right in the head, no more time wasted. He wasn’t expecting the clinking of keys and the pop of his handcuffs unlocking. 

“I’m getting you out of here, 'cause I do understand.” 

Nekomata was busy gaping, but perhaps a small part of him felt suddenly warm. 

 

_There was an old man in a house._

_He tried helping people, tried to keep them safe, but became more and more alone anyhow._

 

He looked at the kid asleep on the back of his car. Well, not _his_ car, nothing much in his possession actually belonged to him. But that was not the matter at hand, rather that he needed to somewhat fix this mess. He'd already been with the boy for the last three days, ever since he found him alone and crying in the apartment where his parents should have been. This was bad, very much so, because Nekomata knew he couldn't keep the kid, no matter if the boy was growing attached to him. He knew he was not supposed to keep people this close, his lifestyle was too dangerous.

He was waiting on the car for his contact to come, for the person who could actually take care of this kid, give him some semblance of a decent life. Yasufumi had discussed it with Keishin, had told he was gonna live in an island, in a nice farm. It had felt a bit pathetic to ask Ikkei for that, ask an ex-cop to take care of a young ghoul, but Yasufumi didn’t want the boy to grow up with muzzles and guards at every corner. At least in a farm, with Ikkei raising him, he had a shot at something different than most ghouls would ever have. 

A red car stopped next to him, and he saw the human getting out. He had aged, but again so had Nekomata, even if much less so. The ghoul rolled down the window and looked him in the eyes for the first time in so long.

“Good afternoon, Ikkei.” He smirked, which was almost an automatic reaction by now. 

“We have to move quick, Nekomata. I don’t have time, you shouldn’t even be like this.” 

The ghoul rolled his eyes, before gesturing with his head to the back of the car.

“Don’t be such a grumpy old man. Let’s wake Keishin up so you two can go.” 

 

_There was an old man in a house._

_He took two strays in, and he built his family, though always with the fear and worry they would be taken away from him. Because he was a monster and monsters are never supposed to have happy endings._

 

He was pacing between the living room and the kitchen. Nekomata would give anything for a cigarette right now, but he couldn’t. He had promised to stop after he got the kids, they didn’t need that sort of influence on their lives. It was so weird caring so much about them, worrying how they were going to grow up, if they were happy and safe. 

Tetsurou was sitting on the couch eating ice cream from the pot. Perhaps Yasufumi was a bit too lenient when it came to him, but what could he really do. The kid had to stay locked inside the house, couldn’t go to school or anywhere remotely crowded, so the ghoul would give in and spoil the teenager a bit at every corner. Not that anyone ever needed to know, that is. 

Kenma was harder to read, and overall harder to protect. The imp insisted in going to the human school, for instance. Yasufumi himself didn’t know much about schools besides what the boy told him, which wasn't much either, so most of it was left to the old ghoul’s not very positive imagination. He knew very well what humans, even kids, were capable of doing to someone who was different, so he worried about leaving the imp alone among them. Kenma had not taken the self defense classes with half the enthusiasm Tetsurou had. 

He heard the door unlocking then, the child promptly coming inside. Tetsurou all but jumped to his feet going to greet the other, and Nekomata stood there watching as the boys talked, feeling secretly relieved. 

Maybe it was dangerous to care like thus, but in his centuries of life not many things had ever mattered so much. He could never have left those kids on the street anyway, he was doomed from the beginning.

 

_There was an old man in a house._

_He was no longer alone there. The house was full now, and though in his eyes he was still a monster, now he saw even monsters could maybe have happy endings. It was not always perfect, but it was his._

When he parked the car - his car now, he had been riding it for over twenty years, so he supposed it gave him to rights to call it his - outside the house, he could hear the shouting loud and clear. Yasufumi sighed deeply, wondering what could have set that in motion this time. Kenma was the first he greeted, the boy sitting just outside the door with his cellphone. 

“Got tired already?” He teased as usual.

“They’ve been at it for half an hour. It’s giving me headaches.”

“And still you decided to leave Kai there with them?” 

The imp didn’t reply, just grunted something that seemed very annoyed before getting up and following Nekomata inside. The shouting was coming from the living room, where he found Tetsurou and Yaku having an argument. And by argument he meant shouting their disagreement on everything. He couldn’t even bring himself to be surprised by it anymore, those two usually managed to be adults and professionals about things, but some days they just needed to vent their anger in someone. The problem today was - as most times - they hadn’t realized it had an effect on other people. Kai sat on the couch, his eyes jumping from one to the other, looking distressed.

Yasufumi walked around the room to avoid getting caught up in the middle, then stopped behind Kai and patted his shoulder. The man almost jumped, but he was far better now than he had been on the first weeks. He got a smile for it, but it was obviously forced. Yasufumi considered scolding both Tetsurou and Yaku about it, but stopped himself. If Kai hadn’t told them about it, it didn’t feel right that he did. 

“Kai, would you mind helping me clean up the yard? Ikkei is coming over this weekend and I promised that grumpy old man a barbecue.”

Kai nodded before smiling and following him outside. The duo kept going on with their argument, Kenma having moved to the kitchen with his headphones. He didn’t stare at Kai when they passed through, which was no surprise. The imp still had trouble with the two new residents of their place in His own way too.

“You don’t need to protect me.” Kai spoke up as they walked outside onto their very small yard. 

 

“It’s no hardship, Kai. Gods know those two won’t stop once they started, and that they will start because of anything.” 

Now Nekomata got a real smile, small as it was, and didn't even try to ignore the warmth it brought.

**Author's Note:**

> Another MM fic.  
> Hope you guys like it  
> Kissus
> 
> P.S.: i don't know why this one had no wb notes, but here they go. As said before, Nekomata is a ghoul, a species which is treated very poorly overall (though progress has been made as time passed, for instance when it comes to police brutality). Ikkei, human, used to be a cop back in the day before retiring to a little largely nh town (the central stage of our karasuno lovelies, bless them). Keishin, also a ghoul, lost his parents to the rare disease (ghouls have pratically no access to health care, so once sick it's hell) and was adopted by Ikkei (there is a whole plot line for him, coming hopefully soon). Kenma and Kuroo were rescued by Nekomata from the streets, by the time he was more settled down (though he still deals with some illegal things, to be further addressed at some point) so things were different with them. Kai and Yaku come later with kuroo, both whom he met because of his job (as usual to be later developed). Kai has some history with abuse in his family, hence his distress here
> 
> Ok, I'm done for now
> 
> Many kisses!  
> -jana


End file.
